


Tears

by Pixelatrix



Series: Unconventional Sequels, One-Shots and Alternate Chapters [4]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 06:59:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/880809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I was prompted to write a one-shot titled tears(FYI I’m always interested in ideas for One-Shots for Unconventional). So here are Five times that tears were involved in the world o’ Unconventional.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tears

**One**

The shaking of the bed woke Zaeed up out of a not so restful sleep.  He lifted his head up off the pillow to find Hackett wasn’t beside him.  He glanced around until he spotted him sitting at the end of the bed with his head in his hand.  His shoulders were shaking with the effort to not make a sound. 

_Bloody hell._

Zaeed shifted out from under the covers to slide down to wrap himself around Hackett from behind.  His legs rested on either side of the Admiral’s and his head leaned against his shoulder. “Let it out, Steven.   You don’t have to keep it all bloody in.  I’m the only one here and I’m not goddamn going anywhere.”

“She knew.” Hackett lifted one of his arms up and Zaeed caught sight of the little koi plushie that he was holding. “She had to have known. Why else would she leave this for us in a box? She carried the damn thing with her everywhere.”

“Bloody fish.” Zaeed tightened his arms around him.

“How the hell do we…” Hackett’s hands gripped the plushie tighter.

“Because she’d want us to.” Zaeed pressed his face against Hackett’s back while the other man finally let the tears fall.

* * *

**Two**

Zaeed landed on Mindoir in the middle of the massacre.  He’d been on his way to a bounty when an emergency hail came in from his old Alliance buddy Shepard on the colony.  Goddamn batarian slavers had landed.  Shepard wasn’t worried about himself; it was his daughter Finnegan that he appeared the most concerned.

Little redheaded slip of a girl.

The last time that he’d seen her, Fin had been ten or so, all flying hair and laughter.  It took him an hour to find her.  She was hidden amongst a field of tall crops of some sort.  She was covered in bloody and had an open wound that ran from her eyebrow across her face to the opposite cheek. 

Her green eyes widened when he stepped through the field towards her.  He crouched in front of her and applied medi-gel to it.  He whispered for her to stay quiet while he led her out of the field towards an area farther away from the colony. 

“I’m going back to see if I can find your parents. You stay here.” Zaeed wasn’t sure if she’d heard him.  She just stared over his shoulder and flinched whenever screams echoed in the night. “Fin? Are you bloody listening? I’ll be back. Here’s my pistol. You shoot anyone who isn’t me…understood?”

“I hear you.” She turned back to meet his gaze and the haunted look in hers made him wonder what the hell she’d seen before she ran.

Zaeed made his way back to the farm.  The batarians were already inside when he got there.  Fin’s parents were already dead.  He put a bullet through the two batarians who were outside then stepped into the house. He pulled the knife out of his boot and gutted the last bastard who was still standing over Shepard’s wife.  He couldn’t do anything for either of them.  So he headed back out to find Fin.

She sat with her back against a tree a few feet from where he’d seen her last.  She had a hand clamped tightly to her mouth to muffle the sound of her sobs. 

_Goddamn it._

He slid down to the ground beside her with his back on the tree and wrapped an arm around her. “We’ll wait for the Alliance to show up.  You’ll be better off in their hands than mine.”

“Yea.”

He glanced over at her. “I’ll keep you safe until then.”

“Yea.” Her voice had lost the hint of laughter that it usually held.

“Fin?”

“What?” She titled her head up to look at him.

“Did they…what happened to your head?” Zaeed pointed to the long scar.

“I fell.”

She was lying. He knew and from the sidewise glance that she sent him, she knew that he knew.  He sighed deeply but decided not to press the matter.  If she wanted him to know what had happened, she would tell him eventually.  He focused instead on making sure that he kept her safe and alive.

_Fucking batarians._

* * *

**Three**

Fin sat on the couching laughing with tears rolling down her face.  “You two did _not_ think this through.”

“Shut the bloody hell up.” Zaeed groaned as he rolled out from under Hackett.

“A little help, Finnegan?” Hackett tried unsuccessfully to stand up.

They had been attempting to bring in a birthday cake to her and ended up slipping on the floor.  They’d gotten cake all over the floor and underneath themselves.  Every time either of them tried to stand up, they would slip and end up back on floor.  Three damn times now, either Hackett or Zaeed had tried to stand up and slipped again. 

“I’d help, but honestly, this is the _best_ birthday _ever._ ” Fin collapsed on her side laughing. “If I record this, I could sell copies of it.”

Hackett flopped over on his back. “Zaeed is clearly spending too much time with you.  You’re developing a hell of a mercenary streak.”

“I’ll split the earnings with you both.” Fin took a few deep breathes to try to stop the giggles.

“Bitch.” Zaeed tried to stand up again and slipped back on his ass. “Oh fucking hell.”

Fin buried her face into one of the couch cushions as she started laughing again. “Seriously. Best. Birthday. Ever.”

* * *

**Four**

_April 11, 2184_

Zaeed stood looking over the graves of his two friends on Mindoir.  He’d thought about visiting the memorial that was being built on Elysium, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to visit the colony since her death.  It was where they’d started their relationship.  He wasn’t certain that visiting her parents resting place had been a better idea.

He took a deep shuddering breath and pretended that he didn’t have tears in his eyes. “Goddamn it.”

“I thought I’d find you here.” Hackett’s voice had him rubbing his face against his shirt-sleeve quickly.

“Steven.” Zaeed cleared his throat before he turned to face the other man. “How’d you know?”

“Did you think I’d forget her birthday?” Hackett reached out to pull him into his arms.

“Is it ever going to get fucking easier?” Zaeed rested his forehead against Hackett’s shoulder while his arms slid around his waist.

“Maybe?” Hackett shrugged. “I doubt it. That’s the trouble with love.”

“Rule number fifty-seven.” Zaeed wondered if he’d ever forget her goddamn rules.

“You lose the ones that you love, so love at your own risk?” Hackett clearly had the same issue. “She was worth the risk.  So are you.”

Zaeed’s tightened his arms around him. “I miss her goddamn it.”

* * *

**Five**

_Inter-Relay Text Chat_

_Location: Arcturus_

_From: Steven_

_To: Zaeed_

_23:23 S: You do realize that today is the 11 th of April right._

_23:24 Z: Shit._

_23:25 S: We forgot her birthday._

_23:26 Z: Shit._

_23:28 S: Do you have anything helpful to add?_

_23:29 Z: Shit._

_23:31 S: She’s in New York at the moment._

_23:33 Z: Think she noticed that we forgot?_

_23:35 S: Have you been drinking?_

_23:36 Z: No. Not a lot._

_23:38 S: We have twenty-two minutes to come up with something._

_23:39 Z: We’re fucked._

_23:40 S: Yes. Yes we are._

_23:41 Z: I got bloody nothing._

_23:45 S: Plan B?_

_23:46 Z: B? We don’t have a fucking Plan A._

_23:47 S: I’m booking a transport to New York.  I can be there tomorrow at some point._

_23:48 Z: Fuck. Fine. See you on Earth._

_23:49 User has disconnected._

Fin sat in Central Park having lunch.  It was a beautiful spring day.  She wasn’t feeling very _springy_ at the moment though.  They’d both forgotten her birthday.  She hadn’t even received a message from them. She had a very long talk with her koi plushie.  It didn’t offer excuses or complaints. Inanimate objects were great that way.  It also didn’t complain when a stray tear or two dropped on its head.

She was taking a bite out of her sandwich when a hand with a cupcake in it appeared in front of her.  She glanced back to find Hackett standing behind her.  She looked from the strawberry cupcake in his hand back up to him.  She grabbed the cupcake when he started to pull it away.

“So…we’re bastards.” Zaeed stated the obvious when he sat on her left. “And we decided that saying Happy Birthday should be done in person.”

“Saying Happy Birthday? Or sorry?” Fin took a bite of the cupcake. “Nevermind. I forgive you.”

“You are completely incapable of holding on to anger.” Hackett shook his head with a laugh.

“Not incapable, just selective.” She took another bite of the cupcake. “Plus, you came with gifts of the food variety.”

“Is that a rule?” Zaeed asked.

“It should be.”

 


End file.
